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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



earnings of poor, honest, industrious people. 

 Had somebody told them this money belonged 

 to poor women, say teachers and widows (per- 

 haps washer-wometi), if they gave an honest 

 answer they would have replied, "That does 

 not make any difference to us. We do not 

 care whose money it is nor how they came by 

 it, nor how much suffering the loss of it 

 would occasion. We have no regard nor care 

 for anybody. We want money, and we are 

 going to have it, no matter who is wronged 

 and injured and made to go hungry." 



As 1 write, three men have been arrested, 

 whom there is good reason to believe are a 

 part of the guilty five. Of course, they do not 

 admit their guilt at this stage of the proceed- 

 ings. Later on they may admit it. Some- 

 times such men confess their crime. If such a 

 man does make an honest confession I'd like to 

 ask him to tell me honestly and conscientiously 

 what use he intended to make of the money — 

 what caused him to long for something that 

 belonged to somebody else to such an extent 

 that he would risk life, reputation, and every 

 thing else to get it. I never had a chance to 

 ask a criminal such a question; but from what 

 we can learn through the papers, of this class, 

 I am led to believe it would be that he wanted 

 it for tobacco, drink, and gambling. I believe 

 these men usually lose the greater part by 

 gambling in a short time. Drink and like 

 excesses are too slow. Satan must furnish 

 some way in which this money which cost so 

 much can be sunk in an hour or a minute. 



Sometimes we say, in considering the num- 

 ber of terrible crimes like the one I have men- 

 tioned, that there is only one man in thou- 

 sands who would do such a thing, and that 

 there is only one in a great many thousand 

 who really wants money that belongs to some- 

 body else. Oh dear me ! I wish this were 

 true. Even though the bank robbers get 

 caught, and a large part of them sent to the 

 penitentiary, it does seem to me as if this 

 thing were growing. A few get off scot free, 

 with large booty ; and this encourages others 

 to undertake similar work. 



Let us now think of a good man in contrast 

 — a man who has been scrupulously honest 

 and upright — yes, one who has been generous, 

 and ready to divide his honest earnings, often- 

 times, with people who are lazy and shiftless 

 — that is, when he finds them in trouble. Let 

 us contrast the good man — or shall we say the 

 Christian man? — with the robber. What an 

 enormous gulf lies between the two extremes ! 

 In a little tract sent out a few days ago, the 

 story was told of some soldiers in olden time 

 who were out on a march during a fierce 

 blizzard. A larger part of the company died 

 through starvation and cold. Their gallant 

 and courageous captain, who was greatly be- 

 loved by the remnant of the little band, final- 

 ly told his men they would have to give up ; 

 that for his part he would have to lie down 

 and sleep, even if he knew that that sleep was 

 death. He went to sleep, and, as he sup- 

 posed, so did his few faithful followers. But 

 after he lost consciousness these few men de- 

 liberately stripped themselves of their cloth- 

 ing, placed it over and under their captain so 



that he awoke to life in the morning. But the 

 first thing that met his gaze was the sight of 

 his comrades frozen in death. They stripped 

 themselves, and died, that he might live, even 

 as Jesus deliberately chose death on the cross, 

 the helpless victim, as they supposed, of his 

 persecutors. He died that they might live. 

 Now, we know that all through the ages there 

 have been cases like this. Not only mothers 

 but fathers have cheerfully accepted death 

 that loved ones might be saved. Every little 

 while we see illustrations of how some good 

 generous soul suffered and died for the sake 

 of some one else — sometimes, but rarely, even 

 to save an enemy. 



Yes, there is something Godlike in human- 

 ity. There is something grand, unselfish, and 

 noble. Sometimes we find exhibitions of this 

 unselfish and noble attitude of heart, even 

 where we least expect it. Now contrast it, if 

 you please, with an unfeeling, selfish crimi- 

 nal. These cases of terrible depravity are 

 often found among the tramp classes. It was 

 suggested that the affair at Chardon was the 

 work of a gang of tramps. Skeptics have 

 railed at the passages in the New Testament, 

 describing a state or stage of humanity where 

 Satan holds possession — demoniac possession, 

 it is sometimes called. How can any thing 

 else explain the awful depravity of some hu- 

 man beings alive at the present day, except 

 that Satan has entered into their hearts and 

 obtained complete possession and control, driv- 

 ing out every thing else ? These tramps or 

 ruffians would strike down a refined and intel- 

 ligent woman just to get her pocketbook. 

 They would sirike down an honest hard-work- 

 ing mechanic, or perhaps maim him or send 

 him to the insane-asylum for the rest of his 

 life, just to get possession of a few dollars of 

 his hard earnings. Yes, and may God help 

 us, there are worse people in this world of 

 ours ; yes, even now at the very commence- 

 ment of this new century, than any thing I 

 have described. Let us go back to our text : 



It says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neigh- 

 bor's house." This means that you must not 

 become envious of somebody who has suc- 

 ceeded in getting a better home than yours, 

 even if a chance should offer so that you could 

 legally drive him out and get his fine home 

 for yourself and famil^^ You would not think 

 of doing it. But the next sentence in the text 

 tells us, " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's 

 wifey I hardly need call attention to the fact 

 that just now there seems to be a mania for 

 striking down unprotected women — that is, 

 where they can not be rendered helpless other- 

 wise, simply that th-ese wretches I have been 

 describing might minister to a passion that 

 suj-ely had its origin in the bottomless pit. Of 

 course, swift punishment has been meted out 

 b}' an indignant public ; and let me right here 

 point to one result this swift punishment, 

 without judge or jurj', has brought. The 

 criminal now recognizes that, if his victim 

 lives to identify him, he will be strung up to 

 the nearest tree, or burned at the stake ; there- 

 fore of recent date this man, be he white or 

 black, who is possessed of that particular 

 spirit of evil, finishes up as a murderer. 



